Tuesday, 25 March 2014

Coconut Chia Breakfast Pudding - Little Apple Tree Guest Post

As I move into my new house I wanted to have some amazingly talented bloggers guest posting on Gingerbread Smiles. The lovely Angela volunteered her writing, and cooking skills to offer this amazing recipe! Hope you enjoy!
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Hello, my name is Angela and I run a lifestyle blog over at Little Apple Tree where I write about adventures around the West Country with my family, lovely places to eat, books, and occasionally share my love of Doctor Who. I’m so excited to be able to guest post for the lovely Danni on Gingerbread Smiles!

I'm totally not a morning person.
Frankly, mornings suck. No matter how early I go to bed, getting up in the morning is always a struggle and by the time I've blearily staggered around the kitchen fixing Lucas's breakfast and packed lunch, the last thing on my mind is making my own breakfast. Even a smoothie. You're more likely to find me at the coffee shop begging the barista to give me a double espresso and the stickiest bun possible. Not good.
Meet my new breakfast saviour--chia pudding!

If you haven't heard of chia seeds, let me tell you a little about them. They're about poppy seed sized and pack a huge nutritional punch. They're high in magnesium, calcium, iron and fibre, with a decent helping of protein. As if that wasn't enough, they are a fantastic source of omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids. They also soak up incredible amounts of liquid forming a light gel which soothes your stomach and helps keep you hydrated. You can find them at your local health food shop or order from Amazon.
Chia pudding is incredibly fast and easy to prepare. Just a little bit of light mixing the night before and you've got a fantastically tasty and nutritious breakfast waiting for you in the morning. Even I can manage to pull the bowl out of the fridge and spoon out a portion.

I've topped this week's chia pudding with oven-poached rhubarb simply because it's in season but you can use anything you fancy. Frozen mango chunks stirred into the pudding before you put it in the fridge overnight are very good--mango and coconut are best buds--and you could even use sliced banana or a dollop of jam if you're in a hurry.

Put the honey, vanilla and about a quarter of the coconut milk in a bowl and mix thoroughly with a whisk until the honey dissolves. Add the water, the rest of the coconut milk and then whisk in the chia seeds. The mixture will probably start to thicken as you're mixing.
Cover with clingfilm and chill overnight (or for at least two hours). Overnight is always more convenient for me.

Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan oven).
Chop the rhubarb into 5cm (2") lengths and lay in a shallow dish. Sprinkle with the caster sugar, zest and juice. Toss to coat in the sugary juices. Cover tightly with a layer of foil and roast for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and roast for another 5 minutes or until tender when tested with a sharp knife and the juices are syrupy. Cool to room temperature and then transfer to a bowl.
To serve, give it a quick stir and then spoon into serving bowls or jars. Top with the poached rhubarb and a sprinkle of chopped pistachios.

Notes

The finished pudding will keep for four days in the fridge.
I've kept the rhubarb on the tangy side of things. If you'd like it sweeter, then go ahead and slosh in a bit more sugar.
The recipe does halve (or even quarter), so if you're doing a smaller batch, then stick all the ingredients in a jar and shake it up. It also means that you can just grab the jar and go in the morning!
You can make a mocha version by swapping the coconut water for a double shot of espresso and a heaped tablespoon of good cocoa powder.
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I definitely can't wait to try this! Make sure you head over to Angela's blog - Little Apple Tree for more amazing recipes!